JP2007210291A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer which relaxes loads applied to a motor and a motor driving circuit when no sheet of paper is present in a paper feed box without using a paper-feed idler roller. <P>SOLUTION: The printer 1 comprises an image recording device 3 for recording an image on a sheet of paper 2, a paper-feed box 4 filled with a sheet of paper 2 for recording an image thereon, a paper-feed roller 5 for incorporating the sheet of paper 2 filled in the paper-feed box 4 to perform image recording by the image recording device 3, and a motor 8 for generating driving force for rotating the paper-feed roller 5, wherein the paper-feed roller 5 rotates by the driving force of the motor 8 when incorporating the sheet of paper 2 from the paper-feed box 4, and the printer 1 detects a motor-lock condition where the motor 8 doesn't rotate although being driven in an operation of incorporating the sheet of paper 2, and when the motor-lock condition continues for a predetermined period of time, driving of the motor 8 is stopped. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printer that records an image on paper.

  Conventionally, a printer takes a sheet loaded in a sheet feeding box by a sheet feeding roller and records an image on the sheet. The paper feed roller is pressed against the paper in the paper feed box and is rotated by the driving force of the motor to take in the paper in the paper feed box. When there is no paper in the paper feed box, the paper feed roller is pressed against the paper feed box, but the paper feed box has a paper feed idler roller that allows the paper feed roller to rotate even when there is no paper in the paper feed box. Is provided. When there is no paper in the paper feed box, the paper feed roller is pressed against the paper feed idler roller and can be rotated. This prevents the motor from being locked when there is no paper in the paper feed box. Yes.

On the other hand, there is known a printer in which a motor for driving a paper feed roller is stopped when the paper feed roller is locked so as not to return to a home position within a specified time (see, for example, Patent Document 1). There is also known a printer in which a motor for driving an ink carrier is stopped when a foreign material is clogged in the paper transport mechanism and the ink carrier cannot move (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
JP-A-1-17731 JP 2002-347296 A

  By the way, in the conventional printer described above, in order to reduce the cost, a configuration in which the paper supply idler roller is not provided is conceivable. However, in the configuration in which the paper feed idler roller is not provided, when there is no paper in the paper feed box, the paper feed roller is pressed against the paper feed box and cannot rotate, and as a result, the motor is locked, and the motor and motor A load is applied to the drive circuit. In addition, even if the contents disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 described above are applied, the above problem cannot be solved.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems. A printer that can reduce the load on the motor and the motor drive circuit when no paper is in the paper feed box without using a paper feed idler roller. The purpose is to provide.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1 is directed to image recording means for recording an image on a sheet, a sheet feeding box loaded with a sheet for recording an image, and a sheet loaded in the sheet feeding box. In a printer comprising a paper feed roller that takes in the image recording means to record an image, a motor that generates a driving force for rotating the paper feed roller, and a motor drive means that drives the motor, the motor is motor drive means A control means for detecting a motor lock state in which the motor is not rotating despite being driven by the motor, and stopping driving of the motor by the motor drive means when the motor lock state continues for a predetermined time; and a paper feed roller A paper feed roller for feeding the paper taken in to the image recording means, and an encoder for detecting the rotation of the paper feed roller. When the paper is taken in from the paper, it is connected to the motor via the gear train and rotated by the driving force of the motor.When the paper take-in is completed, the connection with the motor via the gear train is released, and the paper feed roller is The motor is always connected to the motor via a gear train, and when the paper is taken in from the paper feed box by the paper feed roller, it rotates together with the paper feed roller by the driving force of the motor, and the control means drives the motor by the motor drive means. When the encoder does not detect the rotation of the paper feed roller, it is detected as a motor lock state, and the motor is locked because there is no paper in the paper feed box and the paper feed roller cannot contact the paper feed box and rotate. The load on the motor and the motor driving means at a certain time is reduced.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, an image recording means for recording an image on a sheet, a paper feed box loaded with a paper for recording an image, and a sheet loaded in the paper feed box are recorded by the image recording means. In a printer comprising a paper feed roller to be taken in, a motor for generating a driving force for rotating the paper feed roller, and a motor drive means for driving the motor, the motor is driven by the motor drive means. Regardless of whether the motor is not rotating, it is equipped with control means that stops the motor drive by the motor drive means when there is no paper in the paper feed box and the paper feed roller contacts the paper feed box and rotates. This is to reduce the load on the motor and the motor driving means when the motor is in a locked state.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the printer according to the second aspect, the paper fed by the paper feed roller is fed to the image recording means, the paper feed roller rotated together with the paper feed roller by the driving force of the motor, And an encoder for detecting rotation of the paper roller, and the control means detects a state in which the rotation of the paper feed roller is not detected by the encoder as the motor lock state when the motor is driven by the motor driving means. .

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the motor is stopped when the motor lock state continues for a predetermined time, there is no sheet in the sheet feed box, and the sheet feed roller cannot contact the sheet feed box and rotate. When the state is reached, the driving of the motor is stopped and the load on the motor and the motor driving means is reduced. Therefore, it is not necessary to use a paper feed idler roller as in the prior art in order to reduce the load on the motor and the motor drive circuit when there is no paper in the paper feed box, thereby reducing the cost. In addition, since the motor lock state is detected based on the output of the encoder that detects the rotation of the paper feed roller (that is, detects the paper feed position of the paper by the paper feed roller), a detection means for detecting the motor lock state is provided. There is no need to provide it separately, thereby reducing the cost.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the motor is stopped when the motor is locked, there is no sheet in the sheet feeding box, and the sheet feeding roller cannot contact the sheet feeding box and cannot rotate. The driving of the motor is stopped and the load on the motor and the motor driving means is reduced. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a paper feed idler roller as in the prior art in order to reduce the load on the motor and the motor drive circuit when there is no paper in the paper feed box, thereby reducing the cost.

  According to the invention of claim 3, since the motor lock state is detected based on the output of the encoder that detects the rotation of the paper feed roller (that is, detects the paper feed position of the paper feed roller), the motor lock state is There is no need to provide a separate detection means for detection, thereby reducing the cost.

  A printer according to an embodiment embodying the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a printer. The printer 1 is a device that records an image on a sheet 2 based on image data input from, for example, a personal computer or a memory card. The printer 1 includes an image recording apparatus 3 that records an image on a sheet 2, a sheet feeding box 4 in which the sheet 2 is loaded, a sheet feeding roller 5 that takes in the sheet 2 loaded in the sheet feeding box 4, and a feeding A paper feed roller 6 for sending the paper 2 taken in by the paper roller 5 to the image recording apparatus 3, a paper discharge roller 7 for discharging the paper 2, a paper feed roller 5, a paper feed roller 6, and a paper discharge roller 7 are rotated. A motor 8 that generates a driving force for detecting the rotation, and an encoder 9 that detects the rotation of the paper feed roller 6.

  One or a plurality of sheets 2 are stacked and loaded in the sheet feeding box 4. The paper 2 loaded in the paper feed box 4 is taken into the printer housing 10 by the paper feed roller 5, sent to the paper discharge roller 7 by the paper feed roller 6, and the paper discharge port 11 by the paper discharge roller 7. The paper is discharged from.

  The image recording apparatus 3 includes an ink jet recording head 31 that records an image by discharging ink, a head moving mechanism (not shown) that moves the recording head 31, and the like. The image recording apparatus 3 records an image on the sheet 2 by ejecting ink while the recording head 31 moves on the sheet 2 fed by the sheet feeding roller 6.

  The encoder 9 includes a disc 91 attached to the paper feed roller 6 and an optical sensor 92 that detects the rotation of the disc 91. Each time the disc 91 rotates by a predetermined angle (that is, the paper feed roller 6). Each time the optical sensor 92 rotates by a predetermined angle), the optical sensor 92 detects the rotation and outputs a pulse signal. The output signal of the optical sensor 92, that is, the output signal of the encoder 9 is used to detect the paper feed position of the paper 2 by the paper feed roller 6 and the rotation state of the motor 8.

  2, 3 (a) and 3 (b) show a paper feed mechanism for paper 2 by the paper feed roller 5. The paper feed roller 5 is rotatably supported by the paper feed arm 40 a and has a paper feed gear 51. The first to third relay gears 41 to 43 are rotatably supported by the paper feed arm 40a. The first to third relay gears 41 to 43 are meshed in series, and the paper feed gear 51 is meshed with the first relay gear 41. The paper feed arm 40a is rotatably supported by the arm holder 40b.

  The arm holder 40b is fixedly supported by the printer housing 10, and the fourth to sixth relay gears 44 to 46 are rotatably supported by the arm holder 40b. The fourth relay gear 44 is meshed with the third relay gear 43, and the fifth relay gear 45 is meshed with the fourth relay gear 43. The fifth relay gear 45 and the sixth relay gear 46 are not meshed. The arm holder 40b supports a friction arm 40c so as to be rotatable. A friction gear 47 is rotatably supported on the friction arm 40c.

  When the sixth relay gear 46 is not rotating, the friction arm 40c maintains a posture in which the friction gear 47 is engaged only with the sixth relay gear 46, and the sixth relay gear 46 rotates in the P direction in the drawing. The sixth relay gear 46 is rotated in the rotational direction of the sixth relay gear 46 around the rotation shaft 46a by the rotational force of the sixth relay gear 46, and the friction gear 47 is moved to the fifth relay gear. 45 and the sixth relay gear 46 are engaged with each other.

  When the fourth relay gear 44 is not rotating, the paper feed arm 40a maintains the posture in which the paper feed roller 5 is separated from the paper 2 of the paper feed box 4, and the fourth relay gear 44 is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow Q. When rotating, the rotation force of the fourth relay gear 44 rotates about the rotation shaft 44 a of the relay gear 44 in the rotation direction of the relay gear 44, so that the paper feed roller 5 moves to the paper 2 of the paper feed box 4. (When there is no paper 2, it is pressed against the paper feed box 4).

  The paper feed roller 6 is rotatably supported by the printer housing 10 and has a first paper feed gear 61 and a second paper feed gear 62. The first paper feed gear 61 is meshed with the motor gear 81 of the rotating shaft of the motor 8, and the second paper feed gear 62 is meshed with the sixth relay gear 46. The paper discharge roller 7 is rotatably supported by the printer housing 10 and has a paper discharge gear 71. The paper discharge gear 71 is meshed with the motor gear 81.

  When the motor 8 rotates, the rotation of the motor 8 is transmitted to the first paper feed gear 61 and the paper discharge gear 71 via the motor gear 81, and the paper feed roller 6 and the paper discharge roller 7 rotate. The rotation of the motor 8 is also transmitted to the sixth relay gear 46 via the second paper feed gear 62, and the sixth relay gear 46 also rotates.

  At this time, when the rotation direction of the motor 8 is the positive direction (U direction in the drawing), the sixth relay gear 46 rotates in the P direction in the drawing, and accordingly, the friction arm 40c rotates and the friction gear 47 rotates. Engaged with the fifth relay gear 45. Thereby, the paper feed roller 5 includes the motor gear 81, the first paper feed gear 61, the second paper feed gear 62, the sixth relay gear 46, the friction gear 47, and the first to fifth relay gears 41 to 41. It is connected to the motor 8 through 45 and is rotated by the driving force of the motor 8. Further, the fourth relay gear 44 rotates in the Q direction in the drawing, and accordingly, the paper feeding arm 40 a rotates and the paper feeding roller 5 is pressed against the paper 2 in the paper feeding box 4.

  On the other hand, when the rotation direction of the motor 8 is the reverse direction (the V direction in the drawing), the sixth relay gear 46 rotates in the direction opposite to the P direction in the drawing, so that the friction arm 40c does not rotate and the friction gear. 47 is not meshed with the fifth relay gear 45. Thereby, the driving force of the motor 8 is not transmitted to the paper feed roller 5, and the paper feed roller 5 does not rotate. Further, the fourth relay gear 44 does not rotate, and therefore the paper feed arm 40 a does not rotate, and the paper feed roller 5 is kept away from the paper 2 in the paper feed box 4.

  The printer 1 having such a configuration rotates the motor 8 in the forward direction (U direction in the drawing) when taking in the paper 2 from the paper feed box 4. When the motor 8 rotates in the forward direction, the friction gear 47 is engaged with the fifth relay gear 45 as described above, and the paper feed roller 5 is pressed against the paper 2 of the paper feed box 4 and rotates. Thus, the paper in the paper feed box 4 is taken in by the paper feed roller 5. The paper feed roller 6 is always connected to the motor 8 via the paper feed gear 61 and the motor gear 81, and the paper discharge roller 7 is always connected to the motor 8 via the paper discharge gear 71 and the motor gear 81. Therefore, the paper feed roller 6 and the paper discharge roller 7 are rotated together with the paper feed roller 5 by the driving force of the motor 8 when taking the paper 2 from the paper feed box 4.

  When the printer 1 completes the capture of the paper 2, the printer 1 rotates the motor 8 in the reverse direction (V direction in the drawing). Completion of taking-in of the paper 2 is when the paper 2 is taken up to the position of the paper feed roller 6. The fact that the paper 2 has been taken up to the position of the paper feed roller 6 is performed by detecting the position of the paper 2 using, for example, an optical sensor (not shown). The motor 8 rotates in the reverse direction after the paper 2 has been taken in (that is, the paper 2 has been taken to the position of the paper feed roller 6), so that the engagement between the friction gear 47 and the fifth relay gear 45 is released. The paper feed roller 5 stops rotating and is separated from the paper 2 in the paper feed box 4, so that excessive paper 2 is not taken in by the paper feed roller 5, and the taken paper 2 continues to be fed. Paper is fed by the paper roller 6 and discharged by the paper discharge roller 7.

  FIG. 4 shows an electrical block configuration of the printer 1. In addition to the above-described configuration, the printer 1 includes a motor driver IC (motor driving circuit) 21 that is a motor driving unit that drives the motor 8, and a control unit 22 that includes a CPU for controlling the printer 1. The image recording apparatus 3 records an image on the paper 2 fed by the paper feeding roller 6 under the control of the control unit 22. The encoder 9 outputs a pulse signal every time the paper feed roller 6 rotates by a predetermined angle. The pulse signal output from the encoder 9 is input to the control unit 22. The motor driver IC 21 drives the motor 8 under the control of the control unit 22.

  The control unit 22 controls the driving of the motor 8 by the motor driver IC 21, thereby controlling the taking-in operation of the paper 2 by the paper feed roller 5, the paper feed operation by the paper feed roller 6, and the paper discharge operation by the paper discharge roller 7. . Then, the control unit 22 detects a motor lock state in which the motor 8 is not rotating in spite of driving the motor 8 by the motor driver IC 21 based on the output signal of the encoder 9 in the taking-in operation of the paper 2. Then, when the motor lock state continues for a predetermined time, control is performed to stop the driving of the motor 8 by the motor driver IC 21. The control unit 22 controls the image recording operation by the image recording apparatus 3 in synchronization with the paper 2 taking-in operation, paper feeding operation, and paper discharge operation.

  FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of the operation of taking in the paper 2 of the printer 1. First, the control unit 22 starts driving the motor 8 by the motor driver IC 21 (# 1). At this time, the motor 8 is rotated in the forward direction, and as described above, the paper feed roller 5 is pressed against the paper 2 of the paper feed box 4 (or the paper feed box 4 when there is no paper 2) and the driving force of the motor 8 is driven. The paper 2 is taken in by rotation. The paper feed roller 6 and the paper discharge roller 7 are also rotated together with the paper feed roller 5 by the driving force of the motor 8.

  Subsequently, the control unit 22 detects whether or not the motor is locked (# 2). The motor lock state is a state where the motor 8 is not rotating even though the motor 8 is driven. When there is no paper 2 in the paper feed box 4, the paper feed roller 5 is pressed against the paper feed box 4 and cannot rotate, so the motor 8 cannot rotate and the motor is locked. Based on the output signal of the encoder 9, the control unit 22 detects a state where the rotation of the paper feeding roller 6 is not detected as a motor lock state. In the take-in operation of the paper 2, the paper feed roller 6 is rotated together with the paper feed roller 5 by the driving force of the motor 8. Therefore, if the paper feed roller 6 is not rotated, it can be determined that the motor is locked. it can.

  If the motor is not locked (NO in # 2), the control unit 22 continues to drive the motor 8 (# 3). Thereafter, the control unit 22 repeats the processes after # 2 until the loading of the sheet 2 is completed (NO in # 4). When the loading of the sheet 2 is completed (YES in # 4), the loading operation of the sheet 2 is performed. Exit. The completion of taking in the paper 2 is the time when the paper 2 is taken up to the position of the paper feed roller 6 as described above. After the paper 2 has been taken in, the motor 8 is rotated in the reverse direction. As described above, the paper feed roller 5 is separated from the paper 2 and does not rotate, and the paper 2 is not taken in. A sheet feeding operation by the sheet feeding roller 6 and a sheet discharging operation by the sheet discharge roller 7 are performed on the sheet 2.

  If the motor is locked (YES in # 2), the control unit 22 causes the paper box 4 to store paper when the motor locked state continues for a predetermined time (for example, 0.5 seconds) (YES in # 5). 2 is determined to be absent, the driving of the motor 8 is stopped (# 6), and the paper 2 taking-in operation is terminated. When the motor lock state has not been maintained for a predetermined time (NO in # 5), the drive of the motor 8 is continued (# 7), and the processes after # 2 are repeated.

  As described above, according to the printer 1 having the above-described configuration, when the motor lock state continues for a predetermined time during the taking-in operation of the paper 2, the driving of the motor 8 is stopped. As a result, when there is no sheet 2 in the sheet feeding box 4 and the sheet feeding roller 5 cannot contact the sheet feeding box 4 and rotate, the motor 8 is stopped and the motor 8 and the motor 8 are stopped. The load applied to the driver IC 21 is reduced. Accordingly, it is not necessary to use a paper feed idler roller as in the prior art in order to reduce the load on the motor 8 and the motor driver IC 21 when there is no paper 2 in the paper feed box 4, thereby reducing the cost. Can do. Moreover, since the motor lock state is detected based on the output of the encoder 7 that detects the rotation of the paper feed roller 5 (that is, detects the paper feed position of the paper 2 by the paper feed roller), the motor lock state is detected. There is no need to provide a separate detection means, thereby reducing costs.

  In addition, this invention is not restricted to the structure of the said embodiment, A various deformation | transformation is possible. For example, in the above embodiment, the driving of the motor is not limited to the configuration in which the driving of the motor is stopped when the motor locking state continues for a predetermined time, and the driving of the motor may be stopped immediately when the motor locking state is detected. The state in which the rotation of the paper feed roller 6 is not detected is not limited to the configuration that detects the motor lock state, and the motor lock state may be detected based on the rotation of the paper feed roller 5 or the rotation of the motor 8 itself. Instead of pressing the paper feed roller 5 against the paper 2, the paper 2 (paper feed box 4) may be pressed against the paper feed roller 5. The drive of the paper feed roller 5 and the drive of the paper feed roller 6 and the paper discharge roller 7 may be performed by separate motors.

1 is a partially broken perspective view showing an overall configuration of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. The perspective view of the paper feed mechanism of the printer. (A) is a side view of the paper feeding mechanism, (b) is a plan view of the paper feeding mechanism. FIG. 2 is an electrical block configuration diagram of the printer. 6 is a flowchart showing a paper take-in operation of the printer.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer 2 Paper 3 Image recording device 4 Paper feed box 5 Paper feed roller 6 Paper feed roller 7 Paper discharge roller 8 Motor 9 Encoder 10 Printer housing 11 Paper discharge port 21 Motor driver IC
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 22 Control part 31 Recording head 40a Paper feed arm 40b Arm holder 40c Friction arm 41-46 Relay gear 47 Friction gear 51 Paper feed gear 61, 62 Paper feed gear 71 Paper discharge gear 81 Motor gear 91 Disc 92 Optical sensor

Claims (3)

Image recording means for recording an image on paper, a paper feed box in which paper for recording an image is loaded, and paper feeding in which the paper loaded in the paper feed box is recorded for image recording by the image recording means In a printer comprising a paper roller, a motor that generates a driving force for rotating the paper feed roller, and motor driving means for driving the motor,
Detecting a motor lock state in which the motor is not rotating even though the motor is driven by the motor drive means, and driving the motor by the motor drive means when the motor lock state continues for a predetermined time Control means for stopping
A paper feed roller for feeding the paper taken in by the paper feed roller to the image recording means;
An encoder that detects rotation of the paper feeding roller;
The paper feed roller is connected to the motor via a gear train when taking in paper from the paper feed box and is rotated by the driving force of the motor, and when taking in paper is completed, the gear train with the motor. The connection via
The paper feed roller is always connected to the motor via a gear train, and rotates with the paper feed roller by the driving force of the motor when the paper is taken in from the paper feed box by the paper feed roller,
The control means detects a state in which rotation of the paper feeding roller is not detected by the encoder as the motor lock state when the motor is driven by the motor driving means,
Since there is no paper in the paper feed box and the paper feed roller cannot rotate in contact with the paper feed box, the load on the motor and motor driving means when the motor is in a locked state is reduced. Printer. Image recording means for recording an image on paper, a paper feed box in which paper for recording an image is loaded, and paper feeding in which the paper loaded in the paper feed box is recorded for image recording by the image recording means In a printer comprising a paper roller, a motor that generates a driving force for rotating the paper feed roller, and motor driving means for driving the motor,
Control means for stopping driving of the motor by the motor driving means when the motor is in a motor lock state in which the motor is not rotating even though the motor is driven by the motor driving means;
Since there is no paper in the paper feed box and the paper feed roller cannot rotate in contact with the paper feed box, the load on the motor and motor driving means when the motor is in a locked state is reduced. Printer. A paper feeding roller that feeds the paper taken in by the paper feeding roller to the image recording means, and is rotated together with the paper feeding roller by the driving force of the motor;
An encoder for detecting the rotation of the paper feeding roller;
The control unit detects a state in which rotation of the paper feeding roller is not detected by the encoder as the motor lock state when the motor is driven by the motor driving unit. Printer.

Images